Tension is like a pebble thrown into a quiet pool. The ripples spread out as far as the farthest bank. It not only affects your health and your spirits, your energy and your capacity for joyous living, but can also affect your family, friends, workmates and the community.

The pressures of life today are creating thousands of stressed men and women. They become more and more bound up in themselves and their minds are full of anxiety. They give up their hobbies, their sport or activity and quite often much of their social life.

They feel that something is wrong with them - they complain of pain and fatigue, they are depressed and irritable, they dread life instead of enjoying it and they evade it instead of facing it.

They are told by their doctor;'There is nothing wrong; take it easy and relax'. And indeed, there is nothing wrong that medical tests and examinations can reveal.

But what is wrong is the way the body responds to the stress of everyday life, the kind of use and abuse you give it, the wear and tear of certain muscle groups and the neglect of others.

Research has shown that tension is the underlying factor of many physical and mental diseases. This includes heart disease and cancer, two of the greatest killers of our modern age.

There are of course different sorts of tension. Mental tension when we refer to a state of mind, and physical tension. It is generally agreed that both physical and mental tension are inter-related. Because of this interaction between brain and muscles, the health of body and mind cannot be complete if the energies arising in the brain are either suppressed or insufficiently released through the muscles.

This failure to release tension is caused either by faulty physical habits or because you have not learnt to handle tension in the body. However, if the cause lies within you, then so does the cure.

In most cases, the problem is simply that we do not know how to use our bodies properly. We are not in harmony with our own natures and have forgotten how to balance the pace at which we live with our own inborn rhythms.

Each of us has a quota of energy which we must try always to be aware of and to work in harmony with. We need to apply the mind to the control of that energy and to balance the body physically, mentally and emotionally. We have to learn to find the proper outlet for our energy to be released.

Tension is part of everyday living and, as long as it can be released, can often be an agreeable sensation. It is certainly true that tension accompanies the high points in our lives. Tension in itself is not an evil; it helps to contribute to our great moments of happiness and achievement.

It is only a problem when your body and mind cannot manage it.